Napkin-folding machine.



W. HEYER.

NAPKIN FOLDING MACHINE. APPUCMION FILED Aue.6.1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

William Megs/rf By W. HEYER.

NAPKIN FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJ, 1915. r y L LMQW?, Pmmed Dec. 26,1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WIr/1158353 n wwf/wai? MKM@ -WiHloxm Neyer M gy @yy/ W. HEYER.

NAFKIN FOLDING MACHINE. vAPPLlcATlmI FILED AUG.6. 1915.

LQWWA Mmm Dee. 26, m16.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4 I nvm/Tof? Wilhom Neger By mm VV. HEYER.

NAPKIN FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLxcATloN man Aus-.6.1915. i LQJW'?. Patented Dee. 26,1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

A TTR/VEYS "nryrr WILLIAM HEYER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Nassim-:FOLDING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led August 6, 1915. Serial No. 43,984.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM HEYER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the cityof New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Napkin-Folding Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

This invention relates"- to laundry ma# chinery and has to deal more particularly withv a machine for folding napkins, towels and the like.

The general objects of. the present invention are to improve and. simplify the con-l struction and operation of machines of the character referred to so as to be reliable and efficient in use and of such design as to fold articles with one or more longitudinal and transverse folds in successive steps by a continuous operation, it being merely necessary for an operator to place the articles one at a time in the machine.

A. more specific object of the invention is the provision of a folding device of novel form which embodies a table having a slotor mouth on which the article to be folded is placed, there being under the. table a pair of folding` rolls, and above the table a vdoubling bar having fingers which double and feed the article through the lopening in the table to the folding rolls, which complete the folding operation. f

A furtherobject of the invention is the provision of a plurality of such folding devices with means whereby the second folding device may be rendered inoperative, as when one of the folding steps is to be dispensed with.

An additional object is the employment of a feeding device in connection with the preliminary folding device whereby the feeder is adaptable for towels, napkins and the like of different sizes, the feeding device being a reciprocatory element having jaws which on the forward stroke of the device grip the article which is supplied by the operator and then carry it backwardly over the table to such ar position that the center of the article be over the opening of the table so as to be doubled and fed through the same to the folding rolls. When such point is reached the jaws of the feeding device will be automatically opened to release the article so that it can be folded.

Still another object of the invention is `the provision of a novel piling mechanism into whichv the folded articles are successively fed to form a pile.

With such objects in view, andothers which will appear as the description proceeds,-the invention comprises various novell features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be set forth with particularity in the following description and claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention and vwherein similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all ytlieviews, Figure 1 is a side viewof the machine; Fig. 2 is a rear View; Fig. 3 is a longitu`dinalfsecytion of the machine; Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the machine taken through the rear portion thereof to show the transverse or final folding devices; Fig. 5v is a plan view of the machine with portions broken Patented Dec. 26, 19H6.. e

away; Figs. 6 and7 are detail views of the article-gripping means of the feeder; Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view on the line 8-8, Fig. 6; Figz 9 is a erspective view of the op.- erating means or the gripping means shown in Figs. 6 and 7;4 Fig. 10 is a diaso f gramma'tic perspective view of the follower or platform of the pile-forming mechanism;

and Fig. ll is' adetail sectional view of the rst gage and adjacent parts.

Referring to the drawing, a designates the frame of the machine, which may be of any n desired construction. At the top andfront of the machine is the preliminary folding device A to which articles are successively fed by a feeder B, and/under the folding del vice A is a secondfolding device@ that receives an article after the first fold has been made therein which may be longitudinal of the article, and in turn produces a second fold parallel to the first, the twice folded article being transferred by an endless conveyer mechanism D to a third folding device E, which produces the'first transverse fold and then delivers the article to the fourth folding device F that completes the folding operation, the folding devices E and F being located at the rear part of the machine, and associated with the final folding deviceF is a conveying device G which delivers the folded articles to a pile-forming mechanism l-l.

At the upper front part of the machine is a horizontal bar l Aon which the operator supports the towels t that are to be folded,

and

from this holder the towels are taken v CIK ' doubled or folded state, and under the table and a-t opposite sides of the openingare folding rolls 5 and 6 whichreceive the article and evenly fold the same. The article is forced through the opening 4 and into gripping relation with the rolls 5 and 6 by a finger bar 7 whichfhas vertical lingersfS. The bar is supported on its ends on arched members 9 that are rigidly connected with a horizontal shaft 10 extending transversely of the machine and supported by the frame thereof, this shaft being rocked by a-crank 11 connected with a reciprocatory rod 12 which receives power from an eccentric 13. This eccentric is arranged on a shaft 14 which carries a gear 15 meshing with a gear 16 on the main shaft 17 of the machine. The finger bar 7 is Iadapted to swing about the rock shaft 10 as a center, and in doing so itfeeds the articles successively through the opening 4 to theprolls 5 and 6.' y

Above the rearl portion of the table section 2 is a gage 18 lin the form of a'bar extending transversely of the table so as to enable the operator to bring the edge of the article to be folded linto Iproper position by' contacting such edge with the gage so as to be gripped the feeder B, and overthe table,

as shown in Fig. 5, is a lateral gage 19 adjustable by bolts 19a in the slots 20 of the table. The operator in placing an -article in the machine brings one of the side edges of the article into engagement with the gageA 19 and the front edge of the article into engagement with ythe gage 18. The feeder B comprises a reciprocatory slide or bar 21 eX-v tending transversely of the machine atthe top and its ends are engaged in guideways 22,- whereby the slidev moves from the rearof the machine to the gage 18 .and back again. This slide -is provided with a plurality of spaced fixed jaws 23 disposed under coacting movable jaws 24` which latter arefulcrumed on a horizontal shaft 25 car-y ried by ythe slide 21 of the feeder. Each movable jaw is provided with a vclosing `spring 26, as shown clearly in Figs. 7 and 9.

The jaws are adapted to be opened hiya dey' pressing bar l27 which overlies the reary members 28 of the movable jaws. ,This bar 27 is connected by arms 29,with a rock shaft 30 wardly from the arm 31 and has at its bottom edge av recess 34 that is adapted toengage the fulcrum bar 25 so as te holdhe B moves forwardly, and at the end of the forward movement the front end of the trigger member strikes an abutment 35, whereby the trigger member 1s thrown upwardly to "idisengage the recess 34 from the pivot bar A25, whereupon the .depresser bar 27l is raised under the expansion of the closing springs 2'6 o-f the jaws.4 The resetting orcooking of the jaw-opening means is provided by asdepending arm 36 loosely pivoted on the-shaft 30, such arm 36 having a lug 37 that lies behind the arm 31, as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 9. The lower end of the re-` setting arm 36 lies in the path of an abutment or trip 38, so that when theI feeder B nears the end of its rearward movement, the arm 36 engages the abutment and is arrested thereby, so that the lug 37 will swing the arm 31 and cause the depresser barv 27 to be' moved downwardly for opening the jaws, and at the same time the catch member moves forwardly so that its recess 34 will engage with the pivot bar 25, whereby the jaws will be held in open position. The article to be folded is thereby released in proper position with respect to the folding device A. As the feeding device B continues its rearward movement themembe'r 36 will wipe over the abutment 38. On the next lforward stroke the member 36 will drag kins and other articles'of different sizes, the

point of opening the jaws with respect to the stroke of the feeder. B can be varied, this rst folding device. L .carried by arms 51 fastened on a rod 52,

being accomplished by adjusting the position of the stop' 38. This stop is mounted on a slide 39 slidable in a guideway 40 in the frame ofthe machine, and this slide is connected by a rod 41 with an adjusting lever 42 which has alatch 43 engageable at any point with a toothed sector 44, asclearly shown in Fig. 3. The second foldmg device C comprises an inclined table 45 which I' is divided into'two sections with an opening 46 between them, and under this opening are coacting folding rolls 47 and 48. A. linger bar 49 having yfingers 50 operates to deliver -the article to the folding rolls 47 and 48 in the same manner as the fingerv bar of the This linger b ar 49 is connected with this rod 52 is an arm 53 which is oscillated byv a rod 54 that receives motion' from an eccentric 55 on the shaft 14.

y A gage 56 is bolted to the bottom of the E at the rear of the machine by/thel' 58. At intermediate points are additional guide bars 59. 1t is the top flight of these belts which are operative in carrying the twice-folded article. yIt maybe desirable tov longitudinally fold an article only once. For this purpose a switch 1 is arranged at the top or receiving portion of the table 45 and directly under the rolls 5 and 6, as shown in Fig. 3. This switch is an extension of the table 45 and is pivoted at 60 so as to swing from the full to the dotted-line position, this adjustment being effected by a rod 61 which is connected with the switch I and with a lever 62 that has a latch 63 engageable with the stationary toothed sector 64. When the switch is in the full-line position the articles will be delivered to the second folding device C, but whenl it is in the dotted line position the folded articles will be switched directly from the first folding device to the conveyer D, whereby the articles will be delivered to the folding device E, to be thereby folded transversely.

As shown in Fig. 4, the folding device E comprises a transversely extending table 65 divided into two sections separated by a slot or opening 66 through which a finger bar 67 forces the article between the folding rolls 68 and 69, and the finger bar 67 is carried by arms 70 fastened to a rock shaft 71 thatis rocked by an arm 72 that is connected by a rod 73 with an arm 74. This :lrm 74 is mounted on a rock lshaft 75 that as an arm 7 5 connected by a 'rod 76 with an eccentric 77 on the Shaft 14; A- gage device 1s used in connection with the table 65 so as to properlyposition the article with respect to the opening 66 of thefolding device E. This gage is made in two parts operating respectively at opposite sides of the opening 66, each part consisting of a bar 78, Figs. 3 and 4, and on the bar are upwardly extending lingers 79. The folded article is @discharged forcibly by the conveyer D to the rear and strikes the fingers 7 9,'but the articles are not liable to come torest on the table 65 in all the same position. Therefore, each gage bar 78 is, moved forwardly to bring the article into proper position. For 'this purpose each gage bar 78 `has depending lugs 80 which pass through slots 81 in the table 65, and these lugs are connected with operating rods 82 that are in turn connected with arms 83 on the shaft 83 which has an arm 83, Fig. 3, that is oscillated' by a rod 84 connected/with the arm 85 on the rock shaft 75. The final folding device F com` through which ythe finger bar ,88 delivers -95 the article to the folding rolls 8.9 and 90.

the article only once.

The finger bar is carried by swinging arms 91 fastened to a shaft 92 which has a level' 93 connected by a rod 94 with an arm 95 on a shaft 96 that receives motion from an eccentric 97 from the shaft 14 through the rod 97 and arm 97 a on the shaft 96.

1t may be desirable to transversely fold To do this the gage 99 arranged at the bottom of the table 86 is adjustable from the full to the dotted line position, Fig. 4, so that the folded article after leaving the folding device E will slide down the table 86 and stop directly at the opening 87. The linger bar 88 will then descend and deliver the/folded article to the rolls 89 and 90 without another fold being imparted to the article. This gage 99 is slidaloly mounted on the table 86 andl has members 100 extending through slots 101 in the table. These Vmembers are connected with oscillatory arms 102 on a shaft 108, such shaft being rocked by a mechanism 104 controlled by the operator.

The conveyer G comprises, as shown in Fig. 4, endless belts 105 which pass around the roll 90, and under the roll 89, and the forward ends ofthe endless belts 105 pass around a guide 106 arranged adjacent the piling device H. The piling device H consists of a vertically movable horizontally disposed follower or platform 107 suspended by four cords 108 connected with the corners of the platform, these cords being windable around a shaft 109 suitably mounted in the machine. The shaft 109 is adapted to be turned by winding cords 108 which are connected with springs 111, such springs exerting a pull in a` direction to cause the cords 108 to wind and therebv hold the platform or follower 107 raised, but asy the pile of folded articles is increased on the follower, the latter moves lower and lower step by step. A horizontal grid 112 is disposed at the. discharge end of the conveyer G, and upon this grid is the folded article deposited. A stop 113 is arranged at the forward side of the piling device so as to arrest vthe folded articles delivered by thel `bars 115 of the grid 112, the grid being:

slidable in horizontal guideways 116 so thatl the grid can be moved forwardly from the pile to permit the' last article to be depressed to position below the level of the grid, whereby the latter can move rearwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4 for lholding the pile depressed. Coperating with the grid is a. downwardly acting pressing element l117 composed ofspaced bars 118 whichrenter between the members 115 f of the grid solas to force the pile of folded articles t downwardly, so that the grid 112 can belwithdrawn and then returned to en' gage the top ofthe pile. This* presser element 117 is carried by a lever 1,19. fulcrumed at 120, and is actuated by a mechanism consis'tin'g of la cam 121 on the shaft 1 4, which cam strikes an arm 123 fastened to a short shaft 124 which'has an arm 125 carrying a weight 126 that lifts the device 117, and which also has an arm 127 that is connected by a link 128 withthe device 117. The grid 1,12 is operated by a swinging arm 1.29` connected by a rod 129EL with the grid, the arm 129 being mounted rigidly on a shaft 129", Fig. 4, that has a short crank arm 129 which is actuated by a wiping cam 130. on the shaft 14.V A counterbalanced weight 132 carried byanl arm 132b on the shaft 129b serves to move the' grid rearwardly from its forward position. y

The main shaft 17 may be driven in any suitable manner, but in the'present instance it is providedwith a pulley 135 which is driven by a belt 136.-

which has cranlrarms 137 connectedby rods 138"with long vertically disposed levers 139 at the rear of the machine, which levers are connected by links 140 with the. article feeder B. Also on the Vmain shaft 17 isa large sprocket wheel 141 which Vdrives a chain 142.y This .chain meshes with sprocket wheels 143 and 144 connected with the rolls 5 and 47 ofthe first and second folding devices A and C, whereby such rolls are rotated. These rolls aregeared to'their com,

panion rolls to impart rotation thereto. 0n the shaft 17 is a bevel gear 145 which meshes with a bevel gear 146 on a longitudinal -hori zontally extending shaft\147 that has on its rear end a sprocket wheel 148 which drives a sprocket `chain 149, such chain meshing with sprocket'wheels'lO and151 connected' `with the rolls-68 and 89 of the folding devices E and F, such rolls being geared to their companion rolls to cause simultaneous rotation. f l.

As shown in `Fig. 11, the gage bar 18 has its bottom edgeprovided'with recesses 18 so that the gripping jaws of the feeder B 'can pass thereunder and grip the rear edge ofthe article which the operator places in the machine to be folded. Under this gage bar 18 is a plate 18a which has recesses 18h registering with .the recesses in the gage bar 18, so as to accommodate-the grippingjaws of the feederl B and enablethem to grip-the article to be folded.y Y i From the 'foregoing descriptiony taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsthe advantages of the construction and method of operation 4will be readily under-y stood by those skilled in the art to. which the invention appertains, and while I -have described the principle of operation, together with the apparatus which I now consider to ybe the ,bestembodiment thereof,

As previously eX plained, the main shaft drives ,the shaft 14- 1 desire to have it understood that the appay ratus shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made when desired as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, 1

Patent ,claim as new and -desire to secure by Letters p j 1. In a folding'machin'e, the combination x of a device for producing a fold in an article, a? chute vdown which the article slides by gravity, a device for producingv a second fold in the article after moving down the chute,"an endless conveyer having one end disposed adjacent the second device for receiving the folded article, whereby` the latter travels by the upper iiight of the conveyer, and means between the irstdevice and chute for shunting the' article to,an intermediate portion of the upper flight of the endless conveyer when the not required.

2. In. afolding machine', `the combination of a device for producing agfold in an article, a chute down which the article slides by gravity, ,a device for producing a second fold, a fourth folding device for folding thel article with a fold parallel to the fold made by the third device, and means for rendering the fourth folding device inoperative when- ,a second transverse fold is not re-J quired. j

` 3. A folding machine comprising a frame, a table' thereon and having a slot through which is drawn an article to be folded, a

second folding deviceis u feeder movable over the rear portion of the l table toward and from the slot, a gage in front of the slot4 for gaging thepositioning 'on the front part of the table of the article to be `folded, said feeder including y/jaws adapted to automatically open and clbse to grip and release the article, a 'stop ydevice fordeterrnining the time of opening of the jaws to release the article when over the slot, means at the front of the table for' adjusting the position of the said st op,and va holder adjacent the said means for holding operator places the articles successively on the table a ainst said gage. f

4. A fol ing machine including a'table, a

device associated .therewith for producing a fold in an article, an inclined chute down which the folded article is adapted to pass the articles to be folded and from which the by gravity, a second folding device arranged to receive the article from the chute to produce another fold, an endless conveyer for conveying away the article from the second folding device, and a switch at the upper end ofthe chute for directing the article directly from the first device to the conveyer, said switch being located over an intermediate portion of the endless conveyer, whereby the switch discharges the article on the upper flight of the latter.

5. A folding machine including a folding device, a chute for receiving articles therefrom, an endless conveyer, a pivoted switch at the top of the chute for permitting articles to pass to the chute when the switch is in one position and permitting the articles to pass directly to the conveyer without entering the chute when the switch is in its other position, a second folding device adjacent the bottom of the chute and comprising a pair of rolls, one of which forms the support for one end of the endless conveyer and the upper flight of the endless conveyer passing between the rolls. l

6. A folding machine including a folding device, a second folding device, an endless conveyer for receiving articles from the second folding device, and a switch for discharging articles directly from the first folding device to the conveyer without the articles passing through the second folding device, said endless conveyer beingdisposed under both devices and having an intermediate portion under the first-mentioned device, and a switch whereby an article shunted by the second folding device will lodge on the upper fiight of the endless conveyer.

7. A folding machine including a folding device, a second folding device, an endless conveyer for receiving articles from the second folding device, an inclined chute extending from thevirst device to the second and disposed over a portion of the conveyer, and a switch between the upper end of the chute and the first device and adapted when in one position to direct the articles from the first device to the chute, and when in another position to direct the articles from the first device to the conveyer.

8. A folding machine including a folding device, a second folding device, an endless conveyer for receiving articles from the second folding device, an inclined chute extending from the first device to the secondgand disposed over a portion of the conveyer, a switch between the upper end of the chute and the first device and adapted when in one position to direct the articles from the first device to the chute, and when in another position to direct the articles from the first device to the conveyer, and a regulator at the front of the machine and connected with the switch for adjusting and holding the same in either of its operative positions.

9. A machine of the class described comprising a pair of folding devices for producing successively parallel folds in an article, a conveyer for conveying away the folded article from the second device, a switch for directing the article from the first device to the second or to the conveyer, a pair of folding devices for producing transverse. folds in the longitudinallyI folded article, a gage for determining the position of the article in the second of the last mentioned folding devices, and means for adjusting the gage to cause the article to pass through the second of the last mentioned folding devices without receiving a fold.

10. A machine of the class described comprising a pair of foldingdevices, one disposed under the other, whereby the article moves by gravity from the first to the second device, a second pair of folding devices arranged one above the other whereby the folded article will move by gravity from the first to the second, and an endless 4conveyer for transferring the article from the first pair of devices to the second pair.

11. A machine of the class described comprising a pair of folding devices, one disposed under the other, whereby the article moves by gravitv from the first to the second device, a second pair of folding devices arranged one above the other, whereby the folded article will move by gravity from the rst to the second, an endless conveyer for transferring the article from the first pair of devices to the second pair, a pile-forming device, and means between the second pair of folding devices and the pile-forming device for conveying the folded articles to the latter.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HEYER. Vitnesses:

GEO. W. ELKI'N'S, FRANK C. PALMER. 

